Profanity and Professionalism
Hey, it’s not that I never use profanity–just ask my dog Dante if I’ve ever dropped the F-bomb after yet another cord-chewing—but for me, it has a time and place and neither is in a newsletter like this one.
I was recently reading a piece produced by another blogger that was absolutely laced with four-letter words that I really didn’t feel were necessary to get the point across and honestly detracted a bit from the message.
In any event, a lot of the information presented was sound, and since I saw so much potential in his perspective I raised my concern to him in an email.
Naturally they brushed me off, claiming authenticity and that many marketing gurus use profanity…which is true I suppose, but I think it’s kind of a cheap way to stand out. Kind of like the kid in your kindergarten class who used to flip their eyelids inside-out for attention.
I did stop to wonder if I was just being uptight about the whole thing, but that was before I stumbled upon Michael Hyatt’s thoughts on the matter, which are laid out in logical fashion to make a salient point: it could be costing you a lot of blanking money.
Samsung’s Innovation Unfolds
It seems like it’s been forever since there’s been any innovation in the smartphone space, the basic black or silver rectangle popularized by the iPhone way back in 2006 is essentially what 90 percent of phones look like to this day.
That’s why the tech world is abuzz after the announcement of the Galaxy Fold, a cleverly named addition to Samsung’s flagship line of devices that transforms from the familiar smartphone profile to a small tablet.
I see what they were going for here since the hybrid laptop-tablet is a pretty slick setup that has become broadly popular over the last few years, but in my opinion this is more of a first step than a finished product: the form factor needs tweaking and I can envision all kinds of problems finding a suitable case to protect multiple vulnerable screens instead of just the one people can barely keep intact.
Still it’s truly refreshing to see a major company actually trying to innovate instead of rolling out slight performance upgrades every 6 months, so I’m excited to see what effect this potential next evolution in the world of smartphones will have on the market.
At the very least I hope the inevitable competition pushes the prices down…hard to justify dropping 2k on what amounts to a public beta test.
Convenience at Costco
I’m the proud owner of a Costco card, meaning about twice a month I head down to my local superstore for a loaf of gluten-free bread and leave with a receipt as long as my arm. It’s something of a love-hate relationship, but a point that goes solidly in the “love” category is their photo printing service, which is ready to roll in about as much time as it takes to run a lap around the sample booths.
The Last Word
This is typically the part where I cheerfully sign off, but before I go I want to take some time to acknowledge all the kind words you readers have sent me regarding the newsletter.
It really means a lot to me that people appreciate my angle on this brave new world in which we live, even to the point of contributing new topics. It’s rewarding to be able to exchange inspired insights with like-minded people.
Being able to interact with fine folks such as yourselves on a regular basis is pretty much priceless, but in case you were looking to put a number on it I could really use a new pair of sunglasses, specifically this pair of wearable speakers from Bose.
It was worth a shot.
In all seriousness I really enjoy being able to do this every week, and I can only hope you have as much fun reading this as I do writing it. Thanks as always for taking the time, here’s to a productive and fulfilling week ahead!